


I Was Always Here

by EmeraldTulip



Series: What's Right In Front of You [2]
Category: Lab Rats (TV 2012), Lab Rats: Elite Force (TV), Mighty Med
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Future Tense, Other, POV Second Person, Romance, Sequel, hey look i finally wrote the sequel to something i wrote last year, i mean its a dark romance but still romance, ish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-17
Updated: 2017-06-17
Packaged: 2018-11-15 01:51:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11220786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmeraldTulip/pseuds/EmeraldTulip
Summary: You thought you won until you lost her.





	I Was Always Here

**Author's Note:**

> hey everyone, its me again. i decided to finally work on the sequel to my old story, We're Beautifully Broken. i thought it had potential from another point of view, so this was the result! i cross-posted this on my ff.net account in 3rd person, so i guess ill see how that goes. enjoy!

You love her, and she’s always known. You’ve told her. But she doesn’t want you. She’s your friend, and nothing else. And she’s told you that.

You’ve tried. You’ve tried so hard to make her see that you care about her, that you always will stand by her side, that you think she’s worth it.

She doesn’t seem to see it.

And you _need_ her to see it. So you recruit a friend, someone you know can help.

Because you want her to fall for you, yes, but also because you can’t stand to see her like that, defenseless and powerless. You can’t stand the that of her in another one of those cells like after that very first fight. You don’t want her hurting anymore.

You want to make her happy, and you will do anything for her.

* * *

You don’t know it yet, but she won’t choose you right away. But something between you will change, for sure.

Then again, something will change between her and the other boy, the one you made help, too.

They will smile that much more, her face will brighten at every mention of his name.

You won’t like it.

So instead, you will watch them, observe and make sure he won’t do anything to ruin what you’ve built with her. You will watch them work together, laugh, hug. You can’t lose her.

* * *

You don’t know it yet, but she will grow distant.

Even though you will ask her out on a date, and she will say yes, the aftermath is not what you expected. She will smile a brilliant smile and say, _thank you. I had a good time._

And you will believe her—of course you will, because why would she lie?

But that will be all she says. She will disappear into her shared room, but you won’t hear her snores like you normally do.

Your best friend will come in, sit on your bed beside you. He’ll give you a serious, solemn look (unusual for him) and ask, _how was it?_

You’ll shrug. _It was fine_ , you’ll tell him. _It was_ good _._ You don’t even manage to convince yourself.

He will study your face for a moment and narrow his eyes—because of course he will see through your hesitation, he knows you better than anyone. His gaze will slide away from yours and look at your other roommate’s capsule, then lock back onto you. _Okay_ , he will say simply. In an unusually touchy moment, he will hug you before standing and turning off the lights, then slipping into his own bed.

You will lie awake for an hour or two, unable to sleep for one reason or another.

And as much as you might hope, as hard as you try to convince yourself that you were just too tired to notice, you won’t hear her snore and you won’t see _him_ come into your shared room at all that night.

* * *

You don’t know it yet, but you will never figure out what happened between them that night.

You will know that neither of them slept in their own rooms, and when you go downstairs, it will be only him and the two girls.

His sister will notice the tension between the three of you and quickly excuse herself, leaving you with the other two.

He will look rumpled, wearing the same clothes from the day before with a tired, resigned look in his eyes you won’t like. She will be wearing new clothes but will look properly cried out.

You won’t ask why, just pull cereal out of the cupboard and pour out some milk. It’s their business. You won’t try to mask your suspicions, however, and you will be able to tell you have an ugly scowl written across your face. You won’t care and will just plop down at the breakfast bar by the other boy, setting your bowl down a little more fiercely than normal.

He won’t seem to notice, and you won’t care.

She’ll come back to you a little after that, and you will hold her closer to you than ever.

You’ll pretend not to notice his vehement glare and how she seems to be drifting further away.

* * *

You don’t know it yet, but you’ll feel hope again. She hasn’t left you for him, and it’s been some time.

You will let your guard down, and so when you enter Mission Command one day you won’t be prepared for your best friend shouting out a _Whoop!_ as you’re doused in… chocolate sauce? There will be another chuckle when something chunky falls on your head, falling toward your feet. Cheese.

 _Revenge is best served with chocolate syrup and swiss cheese,_ he will chuckle, and you will detect an edge of some sort of loathing in his voice.

Your blood will boil, and that, _that_ is when it will all start falling apart for you.

* * *

You don’t know it yet, but you will lie awake well into the night, most of the time.

As you curl on your side, facing your best friend and stubbornly avoiding the other occupant of the room, you will not hear his screams.

All you will hear is the door creaking open, catch a flash of pajamas that definitely don’t belong to his sister. So it must be her.

You figure out he was screaming when she opens the capsule door and his harsh breathing pours out. They walk out, quietly, and you will lie there until sunlight streams through your windows.

* * *

You don’t know it yet, but his harsh breathing will fill your room almost every night.

She will always step in, her powerful senses all-knowing, and lead him out. And every single time, you will feel her slipping further and further away as cracks form in the foundation of your heart.

Oh, she still will be dating you. But you are well aware of his feelings for her, even if he _does_ have the honor not to act on it. (Or the twisted version of honor he seems to follow when he won’t tell you the truth.)

And every day feels like dying, and every morning you wake, astonished that your broken heart is still beating.

All you can do is wait, wait until everything crashes down and this tortured, twisted, awful love makes its escape.

* * *

You don’t know it yet, but it will hurt more than anything else could when she finally opens the door.

 _I’m sorry,_ she will tell you when she finally corners you on the terrace, and before she says anything else you feel your heart break clean in two. _But I’m also not. You’re my friend, I can’t hurt you like this anymore._

 _You’re not hurting me,_ you’ll snap, because she’s not, she’s not, she can’t be.

 _I am,_ she’ll insist softly. _You deserve better._

You will shake your head adamantly, furiously trying to patch up the cracks, trying to sew together the two halves. _You were my dream,_ you’ll say. _You are everything I ever wanted. Please don’t leave._

She’ll look up at you with dark eyes brimming with tears, and her voice will be laced with frustration, anger, and sadness—a tone you don’t hear often, and have never liked. _I was your dream,_ she will agree. _But I—me, real life me, not comic book superhero me you adored—don’t live up to that dream, and I never will._   _You deserve someone who loves you for who you are, who looks at you like the hero, not the other way around. You deserve someone better than me. You have to let this dream of us go, Oliver, for both of our sakes._

 _Please, Skylar, don’t,_ you will whisper brokenly.

 _You don’t want to be with a broken girl,_ she will say. _I can’t be fixed. You deserve better than me._

She will turn, and you will just stand and wonder exactly when your entire world collapsed into a black hole and you didn’t notice.

* * *

You don’t know it yet, but you will spend less and less time at home.

If it can be called that anymore.

You will be walking down fifth avenue when you find a comic book shop. It’s not as big as the one in Pennsylvania, but it’s something. You will walk in, spotting the cashier, you will guess, with an official-looking name tag reading _Rowan_.

 _Hey,_ you’ll say, introducing yourself. _I’m Oliver._

 _Hey, Oliver,_ Rowan will reply, grinning. _I’m Rowan. Obviously. And I recognize you, you’re one of the bionic kids, right?_

Finding yourself still there several hours later, discussing comics and bionics, you’ll shoot Rowan an apologetic grin and say, _I have to go now, in case there’s an emergency. And if there’s not, it’s almost dinner anyway._

And you will leave, but you’ll also leave your number.

And a few weeks after that, when your team is meeting and discussing, you will pay no attention to the way she grabs his hand, because your thoughts will be preoccupied with the text on the phone screen in front of you. The shattered fragments of your heart will tremble in the hollow socket that resides within your chest, because you don’t know how you feel.

_I really like you, Oliver._

And you’ll freeze for a moment, because the last time you heard those words it was from _Skylar._ But… you’ll cast a glance over. She will be staring up at him, and in that moment you will realize that you never really had a place like that in her life.

 _Oliver,_ another voice will say, out loud this time, and you will look up at your best friend. _Oliver, we have to go now._

You will glance down at your phone and rattle off a quick text. _I have a mission now, but we’ll talk later. I promise._

It’s not a promise you intend on breaking.

* * *

You don’t know it, but you _will_ find peace.

It will come in the form of true horror that you will find yourself watching, as your friend—yes, he’s your friend, he can’t be anything less just because of these rough past months—tears the world apart.

Stumbling back, you will only be able to watch from afar as everything comes crashing down, but you won’t be able to look away. And then—finally _, finally_ —not one, but two figures will emerge from the dust, she in his arms. You all will make your way home, and every time he looks at you it takes every ounce of your willpower to not look him eyes. You will focus on the cut slicing apart the light smattering of freckles on his cheek.

Eventually, however, he will force you to meet his gaze. _There are no survivors,_ he says coldly, and the girl in his arms clings to him tightly but looks terrified at the same time.

 _Put me down,_ she will insist shakily. _Please, put me down._

He will nod and set her down, not meeting her gaze. _I’m sorry._

 _This isn’t you,_ she will say to him, and you will want to bolt because this feels too private but you are rooted to the spot. _This isn’t you and_ I’m _sorry because it’s all my fault…_

You will feel your duct-taped heart start to fall apart again under her confessions because she might not love you but it feels like hell because you will always love her in one way or another.

Tears will stream down her face as she pulls his face down to meet her and pleads with him, _please please just be Chase Davenport again._

And again, you will want to run, because this _hurts_ , but then your phone will buzz and even though you won’t look at it you will be reminded that it won’t always be like this and there will always be others.

You will barely hear the _okay_ that he whispers back to her because next to you his sister will be crying, tears of relief leaving clean tracks on her soot-streaked face, and your best friend will laugh and he won’t have to tell you why because you already know how strangely insightful he has always been.

And you… you will just watch, patching your duct-tape heart back together with glue and thread this time because yes, it hurts, but it doesn’t matter because she’s finally happy, and as for you, _it won’t always be like this_.

But for now… all you know is that you would do anything for her. You just want her to be happy. And for now, all you know is that you will do whatever it takes to make sure she won’t hurt anymore.

**Author's Note:**

> comments and kudos are appreciated.


End file.
